Life-belt.



I R. DRURY.

LIFE BEL-'1'.

APPLICATION FILED MAB.17. 1913.

Patented Sept. 8, 1914- Fig.1.

IHE' NORRIS PETERS CO.,PHOTO-LITNO.. WASHINuruN. I)v C.

. To all. whomfitmag concern {*Be; itknownfthat IQRIOr'IA D DRURY, a subject ofthe King off-England, residing: at"Liverp'01;fin@ the county of Lancashire','

England, have invented new and useful Imof whichthe fol-i provements in Life-Belts, lowingis a specification. I. r

The usual type oflife belt' consists of a number of cork slabsfitted within'canvas' pockets, taps'being attached tojtheextremities of; the end pockets for'tying solthat'the belt may, besecured to the body, a brace tape I' beingalso provided which when in position passes from the front portion of the belt around theneck and is made fast 'agaln at the front portion. The tapes which secure the belt to the wearer are sometimes passedaround the exterior of the cork pockets be fore being secured at the front. It is found however when such types of life belts are I in use that owing/to the exertions of the belt slips downfb eneath the tape and gets out of position, the brace tape. being of lit-' .tleIvalue except'to support the front porwearer, say by :'swimming or rowing the "-tion of the belt which consequently gets very much out of position, becomes very in:

. convenient and handicaps the'wearer. Fur- 'ther in the present types of'life belts, the: belt unless made a special fitis' apt to be come too loose, belts being usuallymade a; standard size and that the largest required According to the present invention the life belt is made of'a series of cork slabsinclosed in canvas or like pocketsand so ar- 1 ranged thatthev circumferential length of the belt when in position, on the wearer may be contracted by a single pull thus enabling, f it to fit immediately several sizes of persons.

The invention further consists in proi viding such an arrangement ofasingle sup 1 porting tape bywhich the. belt will be held, up at front and back at just the required position 'on'the figure of the wearer to in-- sure freedom of action.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view showing the life belt in its extended position; Figs. "2 and 3 are views showing the belt fitted and in'us'e on the person.

carrying out the invention thebelt is preferably made. of canvas or othertextile .material- (1) formed into a number of pocketsv (2) each pocket being fitted with a slab of f'cerk, the slabs"beinglongerat'the ends Specification of Iletters Patentl 3i as required. 1

but order'toe'nab atenteiispt; s, 19 14,

and' iniddle or a r as' fi n" the 'usualjman "ner." In" center" 'of {the belt correspondlng to What is the back of the "belt "whenin position on the 'wearer,a spacers) ofseveral of canvas is left between the adolnl'ng pockets and agspace of about an inch or so is also'left between the remainmg pocket'sli' "These' spaces' are to' provide for the corkslabs and pockets being pulledv up --closer:;:together and i the circumferen'tial length of the belt decreasedfto adjust it to.

different sizes. p

All the pockets excepting the outer or end ones 2 are fitted on their exterior surfaces with tabs or yoke-pieces 4:, say of stoutjwebbing or the, like material, beneath which the binding or adjusting tapes 5, 6, are passed. There are superposed two such binding tapes, secured to opposite end pockets of the belt and then passed beneath all the-tabson the pockets. 1 To fit the belt on the wearer it is put on in the usual way, the free ends of the binding tapes being then passed around hooks 7 and 8 or the like abutments fitted to the exterior surface of the end pockets, the

tapesbeing, preferably, threaded around the hooks in such a manner that the free end of I the tape coming around the right side of the 1 belt is passed over the hookjon the left side of the belt,"and vice versa, see Fig. 2. By

drawing the free ends of the tapes around the '7 hooks the whole 'bj'elt will be tightly con tr'acted and fitted about the person, the free ends of the tapebeingtied after such ad-.J

justmentfl in the center or rear of the belt, and detachably coupled by means of a book 11 .and eyes Q12 in the strap to the upper edge of the other outer pocket; The disposition OfthlS yoke The brace strap is connected up at one .end '9 permanently to the upper edge of one outer pocket, threaded throughan eye 10 strap, when in use, is from the breast of'the -wearer over one shoulder, through the eye at the-back and returning over the other shoulder to the breast. 'The'deta'chable end of the brace tape is fitted with a successionof eyes orrings 12,'so that by pulling' on this tape itmay be drawn and tightened up one or more rings, and in this way the height of the belt on the wearer adjusted Ifdesired end'pockets may be dispensed with These hooks may be'ofap desiredconstruction',

them a lie flat again t the front hooks T and E? on the l flopies ofthis patnt may be obtained for the end pdekets they are preferably shown, the hooks 7 8, being i mn mount;

ed in the lates 7 a-nd8, seoured tothe end slabs of t e belt; and in order to enable the stapes to lie evenly one on the other,- one 6f them 6 is forkedat 6 Where it is attached to the' end pocket; ltheiothei tape 5 thus passing freely out of the fork zasshownto the right of Fig. 1. a

Such a constrnotion-ofgbelt permits of it l'wearer, obviatesany possibility of the cork slabs slipping fromi beneath the,binding tapes and by; means of, the braeelstrap seloures the belt, at; any 1 determined height on the "wearer so ethat 'itsoannot be displaced b a movement or exertion on his part. a

" "Iolaim: a "A life belt consisting of canvas pocketsyw withintervening pliable portions and cork slabs in said pockets, and of two superposed ti straps fixed to opposite ends along the mid:

dle of the life belt, open scroll-hooks fined if -adjacent to the attached end ofeach strap; inizi; a5 fast at one end and adjustably secured to the combination With a single shoulder strap other end of; the life belt ith slidable con nection at the middle of (the lifehbelt;

shown and. described. j

,5 WVitnesses ANNIE MIT ELL, HERBE T WILLIAMs.

five cents each; byaddressing the Commissioner of latentsgy: Washington,D'.C., r l

ICHARD I 

